we're still here

Sep 27, 2018

it all fits

the new chariot

I've been feeling a bit guilty about not writing here, but there hasn't been much to inspire me until today. The local meteorologists who stated that the excessive heat and humidity were caused by Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas when we first got here lied. Long after the storm has moved on it continues to be unbearable with the discomfort index in the 100º range when heat and humidity are factored in. Weather records are being set. When I look out the window, it's beautiful: fluffy clouds floating in bright blue skies with bright green tropical plants growing enthusiastically. But I walk out the door and my knees buckle. It's so humid, it's hard to breathe.

Mostly we stay inside, but Ken continues to play tennis. He plays ten times better than I do and the first few times he went, he told me that he was at the bottom of the barrel; there were even some female players that gave him a run for his money. Message received. I went to aqua aerobics instead. Even in the pool I was hot and felt dehydrated by the time the class was over. For my taste the water is too warm and when you work hard, there is no way to cool off. It is nice that our new lot is within walking distance of all central activities. When we're done trying to be athletes, we flee back to the motor home which is comfortable as long as we have all the shades drawn and the A/C is working hard.

At home in the winter when we are housebound our go-to activity is going to the movies. We've seen two and enjoyed some dinners out with local friends. I've pruned all the vegetation I can reach. It's nice to throw all the dead stuff on the curb and know that someone will come by and take it away. We also have daily garbage pick up. Ken has pressure washed the driveway and we will do the same cleaning and pruning on our rental site, once the renters are gone. Two years ago another hurricane took a toll on our nature trail and we took a bike ride on the trail through the shade deep in the woods to see the new fence and viewing platform over the creek that were recently rebuilt. Once again we did not see any animals, even in spots where we know they hang out in the winter.

There is a Facebook group for people who own camp sites/homes in this campground. Every so often we see something listed for sale worth investigating, but last night was the first time we were actually here to investigate. The first camp site we bought here is a twenty minute drive from the entrance at the speed limit (golf cart speed is the limit.) The last time we stayed here, we used a friend's golf cart or rode our bikes. But it's hard to haul a golf bag on a bike and biking can be dangerous in the dark, so a golf cart could come in handy and nearly everyone here has one. This morning we bought a used cart in fine condition for a great price after reading about it on Facebook. We will probably have to replace the batteries sooner rather than later, but it was garage kept and the owner gave us all his maintenance records. If we find we're not getting enough use out of it, we can always sell it again on Facebook. That's the way things work here at The Great Outdoors.